Tesla, facing failure, raises the ante

A session-long effort by State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, failed to reach a compromise to allow Tesla, the luxury electric carmaker to sell directly to Connecticut consumers, skirting state franchise laws. He vowed to revive the bill next year. less

A session-long effort by State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, failed to reach a compromise to allow Tesla, the luxury electric carmaker to sell directly to Connecticut consumers, skirting state ... more

A session-long effort by State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, failed to reach a compromise to allow Tesla, the luxury electric carmaker to sell directly to Connecticut consumers, skirting state franchise laws. He vowed to revive the bill next year. less

A session-long effort by State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, failed to reach a compromise to allow Tesla, the luxury electric carmaker to sell directly to Connecticut consumers, skirting state ... more

HARTFORD — Legislation that would have allowed luxury electric carmaker Tesla to sell directly to consumers had all but died in the state Senate.

But in a last-ditch attempt to win their battle to do business in Connecticut, Tesla Motors Inc. on Monday afternoon sweetened the pot. Company officials said they would build a regional distribution center in Connecticut with 150 new, well-paying jobs, if the bill passes.

“Tesla is prepared to make a real and lasting commitment to Connecticut,” said Will Nicholas, Tesla’s government relations manager. “We want to invest here. We want to create jobs here. And we want to serve Connecticut customers.”

After weeks of off-and-on negotiations between Tesla representatives, the state’s new-car dealers and General Motors, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said Monday morning that a compromise deal failed.

“Without an agreement I couldn’t bring it to a vote in the Senate,” said Duff, who vowed the revisit the issue next year. “New car dealers and GM are powerful lobbyists.”

The state’s franchise law requires that manufacturers sell new cars only through dealerships. The proposed bill would have allowed Tesla to open up to three stores in the state, with up to 75 new jobs. The company has a service center in Milford, but cannot sell cars there.

But then Tesla raised the ante, promising to create 150 new jobs over the next year and a half as the company’s lower-price vehicles hit the production line, in addition to the 25 employees that would staff each Tesla store.

In all, the upstart carmaker would create 275 jobs new jobs in the state, with salaries ranging from $40,000 to $100,000, plus benefits and equity opportunities. Salespeople are full-time employees of Tesla with what the company calls “marginal commission supplements.”

State Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, a co-chairman of the legislative Transportation Committee who favors allowing Tesla to do business in the state, said there remains a slight chance that the bill could be salvaged this year.

“It was my impression that the Senate was trying to work this out among the members of the Democratic caucus,” Guerrera said. “In light of the economic situations we’re enduring right now, I think that it’s a great opportunity for us to enhance a new business like Tesla to come to the state.”

“The franchise system has worked very well for nearly 100 years,” Hoffman said in a statement. “It establishes a fair playing field for us the local dealers, national manufacturers, and customers looking for the best price and customer service.”